CrunchBang Linux

Phillip Bromley

Member

Registered: 2011-03-16

Posts: 38

My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

Whenever I try to mount my floppy drive, I get the error message:

Failed to mount "Floppy Drive".
mount: /dev/fd0 is not a valid block device.

I've tried entering sudo mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy, dmesg | grep -i floppy, and sudo modprobe floppy into a terminal, as directed from various internet searches, with no luck. The drive doesn't work in Windows 98SE either, so what gives? Is it possible that I didn't connect it properly? I'll try double checking that sometime today.

Additionally, my Iomega/ZIP 100 drive works just fine, but it's IDE and my floppy has a different data connector on the motherboard. I've even tried two different floppy drives, so it's not the drive itself. However, it's not a faulty motherboard because it still didn't work after I upgraded my motherboard just yesterday.

Any ideas?

anonymous

The Mystery Member

From: Arch Linux Forums

Registered: 2008-11-29

Posts: 9,418

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

After you do "sudo modprobe floppy", run lsmod and check if its listed.

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Note: ** Please read before posting **

Phillip Bromley

Member

Registered: 2011-03-16

Posts: 38

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

Here's what I get, floppy is near the bottom:

phillip@crunchbang:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nls_utf8                 908  1 
isofs                  24608  1 
udf                    62626  0 
crc_itu_t               1035  1 udf
ppdev                   4058  0 
lp                      5570  0 
sco                     5885  2 
bridge                 32883  0 
stp                      996  1 bridge
bnep                    7384  2 
rfcomm                 25107  0 
l2cap                  21709  4 bnep,rfcomm
bluetooth              36251  6 sco,bnep,rfcomm,l2cap
rfkill                 10196  2 bluetooth
fuse                   44052  1 
vfat                    6534  0 
fat                    34776  1 vfat
loop                    9729  0 
snd_ens1371            13654  1 
gameport                6025  1 snd_ens1371
snd_seq_midi            3576  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      3684  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi            12513  2 snd_ens1371,snd_seq_midi
snd_ac97_codec         79148  1 snd_ens1371
ac97_bus                 710  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                47226  2 snd_ens1371,snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq                35327  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              12258  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
matrox_w1               1887  0 
snd_seq_device          3673  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
wire                   15358  1 matrox_w1
snd                    34387  9 snd_ens1371,snd_rawmidi,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore               3450  1 snd
joydev                  6739  0 
snd_page_alloc          4977  1 snd_pcm
hid_logitech            4974  0 
ff_memless              3008  1 hid_logitech
cn                      3631  1 wire
usbhid                 27872  1 hid_logitech
hid                    50841  2 hid_logitech,usbhid
rng_core                2178  0 
i2c_i801                6462  0 
i2c_core               12751  1 i2c_i801
shpchp                 21220  0 
parport_pc             15799  1 
pci_hotplug            18065  1 shpchp
parport                22554  3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
psmouse                44777  0 
evdev                   5609  7 
pcspkr                  1207  0 
processor              26259  0 
serio_raw               2916  0 
ext4                  256264  1 
mbcache                 3762  1 ext4
jbd2                   55931  1 ext4
crc16                   1027  2 l2cap,ext4
sg                     19905  0 
sr_mod                 10770  1 
sd_mod                 25937  3 
crc_t10dif              1012  1 sd_mod
cdrom                  26487  1 sr_mod
ata_generic             2067  0 
ohci_hcd               16883  0 
uhci_hcd               15989  0 
aic7xxx                95047  0 
ehci_hcd               28453  0 
ata_piix               17704  3 
scsi_transport_spi     14834  1 aic7xxx
thermal                 9206  0 
usbcore                98541  5 usbhid,ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
floppy                 40923  0 
libata                115513  2 ata_generic,ata_piix
e1000                  77145  0 
scsi_mod              104613  6 sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,aic7xxx,scsi_transport_spi,libata
thermal_sys             9378  2 processor,thermal
button                  3598  0 
nls_base                4541  6 nls_utf8,isofs,udf,vfat,fat,usbcore

Does the zero in the "used by" column mean that it's not being used? Is that the problem? I also don't get what it means by it's size being "40923".

anonymous

The Mystery Member

From: Arch Linux Forums

Registered: 2008-11-29

Posts: 9,418

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

So now that the module is loaded, insert a floppy into the drive and then try mounting it.

If that doesn't work, maybe try using the floppy in a different distro?

---

Note: ** Please read before posting **

Phillip Bromley

Member

Registered: 2011-03-16

Posts: 38

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

It works! It never occurred to me I had to actually have a floppy in the drive to mount it. lol

So how do I load the module automatically every time my system boots?

anonymous

The Mystery Member

From: Arch Linux Forums

Registered: 2008-11-29

Posts: 9,418

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

Check if the /etc/rc.local file exists. If so, just edit it and add "modprobe floppy" at the end.

---

Note: ** Please read before posting **

Phillip Bromley

Member

Registered: 2011-03-16

Posts: 38

Re: My floppy drive "is not a valid block device". Help!

/etc/rc.local does exist, and I added "modprobe floppy" to it after opening it in root. I'll reboot my PC and let you know if it worked.

EDIT: It worked! I put in a blank floppy and my attempt to mount it was successful. Thanks a lot!

Last edited by Phillip Bromley (2011-06-10 06:07:03)